Paul graduated from Jamestown High School in 1977. While in junior high and high school, Paul became fascinated with the music of British progressive rock bands Yes, Genesis, and Gentle Giant, particularly their use of multitrack recording (new and revolutionary at the time) and editing techniques to create music in new ways. Selected as a finalist for a Naval ROTC scholarship as a senior, Paul knew then that running a nuclear reactor on a submarine (the Navy's plan for his future) was not going to be his life's path. Music held too much allure.
Enrolled at the State University college in Jamestown as a chemistry major, Paul became friends with an English professor who had a folk band that played every week in the student union. Some help was needed to operate the sound system and Paul volunteered. At the same time a campus radio station was coming together. Fascinated by the technology, Paul began to teach himself all he could about sound engineering. College level programs in recording engineering were practically nonexistent at the time. The State University of New York at Fredonia, near Jamestown, had a fledgling program called "Tonmeister", but it was open only to music majors.
In the spring of 1978, frustrated by the lack of educational opportunity in the sound engineering field and quite sure that life as a chemist was not in his future, Paul dropped out of college and entered the school of hard knocks. Paul started mixing sound for local cover bands and hanging out in a growing local music scene which included various members of what would become 10,000 Maniacs, including a very young Natalie Merchant.
Throughout the early 1980s, Paul mixed live sound for many different acts up and down the East Coast. In 1985, while living in Utica, NY Paul got a letter from 10,000 Maniacs. Fresh from recording their first major label release for Elektra Records ("The Wishing Chair" 1985), they were embarking on a US tour to support the record, including an opening slot on a tour with REM, and they hired Paul to come along.
In early 1987, after making several laps of the US in a couple of vans, the Maniacs arrived in Los Angeles to begin production on the record "In My Tribe" with producer Peter Asher and engineer George Massenburg. Originally intending to stay only a couple weeks as the sessions began, Paul's plans changed when he was offered a job at The Complex Studios in West L.A. as an assistant engineer to Mr. Massenburg and studio partner Greg Ladanyi.
Paul was at the Complex for two years, assisting on projects with artists like Toto, Linda Ronstadt, The Church, David Lindley, Fleetwood Mac, and many others. The Complex was a fertile environment that gave Paul the opportunity to assist and learn from the best in the business, like producer / engineer Ed Cherney, and scoring mixers Shawn Murphy and Dennis Sands, in addition to Mr. Ladanyi and Mr. Massenburg.
In early 1989, Paul quit his job at The Complex and became independent. For the next couple of years Paul mixed studio work with occasional forays back into live mixing, a skill that he continues to cultivate. Singer Jennifer Warnes was an early supporter and avid cheerleader.
In 1990, Paul and Ms. Warnes were working on some tracks at Groovemasters, a Santa Monica, CA studio owned by singer / songwriter Jackson Browne. Groovemasters needed a staff engineer to meet Jackson's needs and assist the occasional outside project that came through the doors of the semi-private facility. Paul got the job.
Through the early 1990s, Paul gained more experience and received various engineering credits on projects by Tanita Tikaram, Jennifer Warnes, Jann Arden, Animal Logic, and 4 Non-Blondes among others.
In 1992, rock legend David Crosby selected Paul to record and mix three tracks for his 1993 release "1000 Roads" including one track produced by the legendary Phil Ramone.
Around the same time, Jackson Browne asked Paul to record some tracks for his 1993 Elektra Records release "I'm Alive". Ed Cherney mixed the record, and Ed, Paul, and Rick Pekkonnen were nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Engineered Record (non Classical)" in 1994.
While working with David Crosby, Paul met legendary British producer / engineer Glyn Johns, who hired Paul to assume the engineering tasks on records by Crosby, Stills, and Nash ("After the Storm" 1994) and Stevie Nicks ("Street Angel" 1994).
Through the mid 1990s Paul honed his studio chops, contributing his growing talent to projects with Tanita Tikaram ("Lovers in the City" 1995), Shawn Colvin ("A Few Small Repairs" 1996), Jackson Browne ("Looking East" 1996), and Venice ("Born and Raised" 1997).
In spring of 1997 singer Vonda Shepard asked Paul to record and mix the theme song for the Fox Television / David E. Kelley show Ally McBeal, which featured Vonda performing in each episode. The show had a successful 5 season run with Paul recording and mixing most of Vonda's musical contributions from the pilot episode onward. Paul was a scoring mixer on the episode "Car Wash" recognized by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences with a 1999 - 2000 Prime time Emmy Award for "Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series or Special".
Paul continued to work with David Crosby and his collaberation with son James Raymond and guitarist Jeff Pevar, known as CPR. Paul worked with CPR both live and in the studio, engineering and co-producing with the band on three separate releases ("Live at Cuesta College" 1998; "Live at The Wiltern" 1999; "Just Like Gravity" 2001). Paul also recorded some tracks for the 1999 Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young release "Looking Forward".
In the new millennium, Paul has been working with rising Americana act The Joel Rafael Band, engineering or co-producing on two releases.
In 2002, Paul wrapped up another Jackson Browne record. Recorded and edited by Paul and mixed by Bob Clearmountain, "Naked Ride Home" was released in September 2002 to rave reviews.
Paul has also been handling the touring sound duties for Jackson Browne since early 2003. The "Naked Ride Home" tour took Paul around the world with dates in Japan, Australia, Europe, and the US.
During 2004, Jackson has been touring as a solo acoustic act with dates scheduled for March in the US, Australia and Japan in April, and Europe in the fall. On March 15th, 2004 Jackson Browne was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with a performance in New York. Paul was thrilled to mix this show for Jackson on the occasion of this great honor.
In 2005, Paul will be co-producing with Jackson Browne a compilation of the
best solo acoustic live performances from the last year of touring. Also coming
up on April 14, 2005 Paul will be coordinating the production of a live multi-camera
video shoot of a Jackson Browne live performance in Barcelona, Spain.
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